TY - JOUR

T1 - Discovery of a pulse-phase-transient cyclotron line in the X-ray pulsar Swift J1808.4-1754 and identification of an optical companion

AU - Salganik, Alexander

AU - Tsygankov, Sergey S.

AU - Lutovinov, Alexander A.

AU - Djupvik, Anlaug A.

AU - Karasev, Dmitri I.

AU - Molkov, Sergey V.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society.

PY - 2022/8/1

Y1 - 2022/8/1

N2 - In this work, the temporal and spectral properties of the poorly studied X-ray pulsar Swift J1808.4-1754 were investigated in the 0.8-79 keV energy range based on the data from the NuSTAR and Swift observatories collected during the 2014 outburst. Strong pulsations with a period of 909.73 ± 0.03 s were detected in the source light curve, with the pulsed fraction demonstrating a non-monotonic dependence on the energy with a local minimum around 17-22 keV. Phase lags in one of the pulse profile components, reaching the maximal value approximately at the same energy, were discovered. The pulse phase-averaged spectrum of the source has a power-law shape with an exponential cutoff at high energies, which is typical of X-ray pulsars. Pulse phase-resolved spectroscopy revealed the presence of a pulse-phase-transient cyclotron absorption line at ∼21 keV, allowing us to estimate the neutron star magnetic field of 2.4 × 1012 G. This makes Swift J1808.4-1754 a member of very small family of X-ray pulsars with a pulse-phase-transient cyclotron line in a narrow phase range. The data from the Nordic Optical Telescope allowed us to study the properties of the infrared companion in the system and to conclude that most probably it is a Be-type star located at a distance of 5-8 kpc.

AB - In this work, the temporal and spectral properties of the poorly studied X-ray pulsar Swift J1808.4-1754 were investigated in the 0.8-79 keV energy range based on the data from the NuSTAR and Swift observatories collected during the 2014 outburst. Strong pulsations with a period of 909.73 ± 0.03 s were detected in the source light curve, with the pulsed fraction demonstrating a non-monotonic dependence on the energy with a local minimum around 17-22 keV. Phase lags in one of the pulse profile components, reaching the maximal value approximately at the same energy, were discovered. The pulse phase-averaged spectrum of the source has a power-law shape with an exponential cutoff at high energies, which is typical of X-ray pulsars. Pulse phase-resolved spectroscopy revealed the presence of a pulse-phase-transient cyclotron absorption line at ∼21 keV, allowing us to estimate the neutron star magnetic field of 2.4 × 1012 G. This makes Swift J1808.4-1754 a member of very small family of X-ray pulsars with a pulse-phase-transient cyclotron line in a narrow phase range. The data from the Nordic Optical Telescope allowed us to study the properties of the infrared companion in the system and to conclude that most probably it is a Be-type star located at a distance of 5-8 kpc.

KW - Accretion

KW - Accretion discs

KW - Pulsars: general

KW - Scattering

KW - Stars: magnetic field

KW - Stars: neutron

KW - X-rays: binaries

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85133717557&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/73190cf7-c166-3d15-9013-74b173f97194/

U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stac1462

DO - 10.1093/mnras/stac1462

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85133717557

VL - 514

SP - 2707

EP - 2715

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

SN - 0035-8711

IS - 2

ER -